My father, in his strange way of doing things, selected the family LLC as the beneficiary of his IRA after my mother died. He was the controlling partner and his 8 children represent equal partners of the LLC. He passed away in January and now we fear that Uncle Sam will benefit much more than we will. My questions are: 1. Is an LLC a valid beneficiary for an IRA? 2. Can the LLC designate the partners individually as alternate beneficiaries since an LLC does not have a life expectancy? 3. Will the LLC partners have to take a lump distribution and pay income taxes now as our only alternative? 4. Would the IRA have been free and clear of the estate had he named individuals as beneficiaries, i.e., not subject to estate taxes?